Desire to Bargain and Negotiation Success: Lessons About the Need to Negotiate from Six Hydropower Disputes

/ We investigated the notion that successful negotiations require that all parties to the dispute must have a desire to bargain. This desire is most likely to be present when the dispute exhibits ripeness and each party believes a bargained solution is the most cost-effective way to resolve differences. Structured interviews of participants in six Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower licensing consultations were conducted to determine the level of need to negotiate for each party. The findings indicate that a need to negotiate is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success. Several factors were associated with a need to negotiate: a weak BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement); a salient issue; participants' sense of efficacy; a sense of inevitability; professional roles encouraging negotiation; and disputes about facts as opposed to disputes about values. Participants' need to negotiate fluctuated throughout the process and intensified when questions were ripe: i.e., critical issues were debated or the regulatory process required action.KEY WORDS: Alternative dispute resolution; Federal licenses; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Instream flow; Environmental planning     

Troubled waters in the Middle East: the process towards the first Regional Water Declaration between Jordan, Palestinian Authority, and Israel

Water disputes in the Middle East are not a new phenomenon. For the first time, however, three parties in the region, Jordan, Israel, and the PLO for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority have concluded a "regional water agreement" within the framework of the Multilateral Peace talks. For the first time, the rationale behind the agreement is being made public by the author, who was the "neutral" facilitator of the negotiations. The article discusses some of the main elements, including issues related to water scarcity as a driving force of conflicts; application of a "track-two diplomatic" approach; some lessons learned; as well as some ethical questions related to international negotiation.     

The perplexing dispute over oil

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have been exacerbated by the great potential for oil reserves in the area. The Spratly Islands have been a major object of these disputes. While China and other countries have softened their positions to a degree, questions remain regarding how each country would cooperate in oil exploration in this area. The ultimate resolution of the dispute over the Spratly Islands could set an example for the future handling of rival claims, but whether the approach will be one of cooperation or conflict is unclear.     

Implementing ISO 14000: Overcoming barriers to registration

The new environmental standard, ISO 14000, is due for issue in January 1996. The standard is designed to address environmental management systems, life-cycle assessments, and international labeling and auditing standards. A major issue facing ISO 14000 advocates is “How can proponents of ISO 14000 get their enterprise to implement it?” And once implementation is started, “What can be done to enhance its chances of success?” The answers to both of these questions may be discovered by examining the self-interest of the parties within the enterprise. These parties will rightly ask, “Why should I support ISO 14000 registration? What's in it for me?”. Today's business climate is more competitive than ever. This is particularly true in the international arena. As a result, the competition within an enterprise for funds (the budget process) is becoming tougher than ever. Management is not going to register under ISO 14000 because they are altruistic. Companies will decide to register only if it is in their own best interest. That means, only if the decision maker can defend the decision to critics. This article presents approaches to gain support within an organization for implementation of ISO 14000 and to improve the chances of success once implementation has begun.     

论WTO处理环保议题的路径选择

WTO处理环保议题主要是通过召开会议、制定协议、创制协调机构以及解决争端等方式,上述路径从整体上构成了世界贸易组织的环境保护实践。"借用"WTO争端解决机制处理环保议题,成为有效协调环境保护与促进贸易自由的现实选择。WTO争端解决机制履行世贸组织环境保护方面的职权,解决与环境有关的贸易争端,其法律解释和裁决报告等不断塑造着世贸组织的环保体系。在缺少完善的环境领域争端解决机制的情况下,"借用"WTO争端解决机制处理环保议题的模式将会长期存在。     

环境邻避冲突中公众纠纷解决机制的发展与完善

近年来我国环境邻避形势严峻,人民群众日益增长的对美好生态环境的需求、公众参与环境保护的意愿、维护自身权益的意识和当前纠纷解决机制不平衡不充分的矛盾突出。为了有效化解冲突,环境邻避纠纷解决机制先后经历了萌发期、探索期,并逐步进入多元化发展阶段。现阶段环境邻避纠纷非诉讼解决方式存在制度局限,诉讼解决方式在实际应用中面临诉讼积极性不高、立案难、举证难、审理难等问题。为此,结合环境邻避纠纷的特点,本文提出了环境邻避纠纷解决机制完善建议:一是预防为主,建立贯穿项目建设始终的公众参与法律制度体系,增强公众意见反馈的强制性;二是分类化解,建立和完善适应不同需求的纠纷解决程序,加强多元化纠纷解决机制的衔接。希望通过建立"预防为主,分类化解"的精细化纠纷解决机制来推动环境邻避冲突的有序解决。     

民事司法改革进程中环境纠纷行政处理问题探析

民事司法手段的局限性限制了司法手段在环境纠纷解决中的地位和作用。民事司法改革进程的深入发展和多元化纠纷解决机制的兴盛为环境纠纷的多元化解决途径带来了新的发展契机。环境纠纷行政处理的专业性、便捷性、可接近性决定了行政处理在环境纠纷解决中的独特作用和适用空间。在借鉴发达国家和地区环境纠纷行政处理的立法经验和灵活多样的纠纷解决途径的基础上,从环境纠纷行政处理专门立法、纠纷解决机构设置、纠纷解决方式、行政处理的纠纷范围、行政处理救济的程序保障等方面,提出完善我国环境纠纷行政处理制度的思考和建议。     

STATE WATER PLANNING: A FORUM FOR PROACTWELY RESOLVING WATER POLICY DISPUTES1

ABSTRACT: In the arid West, the development and implementation of water policy often results in disputes among water users, resource managers, and policy makers. Although significant attempts have been made to improve public involvement and dispute resolution in water resources planning, the traditional planning process has not historically played this role for a variety of reasons. Water resources planning can become a forum for proactively resolving water policy disputes by employing the principles of environmental dispute resolution. The purpose of this article is to explore the role of collaborative, consensus-building planning processes in resolving water policy disputes. The Montana State Water Plan is evaluated as an example of such a process, and a model state water planning process is outlined.     

INTERBASIN WATER TRANSFERS IN RIPARIAN STATES: A CASE STUDY OF GEORGIA1

ABSTRACT: Under the riparian doctrine of eastern states, transfers of water to nonriparian lands and, thus, to different river basins, are only possible if the natural flow theory has been modified to allow for reasonable use. Even this adaptation is too nebulous to provide water managers and water users with certainty regarding water transfers. To provide a more precise mechanism for allocating water, 14 eastern states have adopted some form of administrative permitting process. Of these, five states statutorily allow for interbasin transfers of water. Thus far, no states have successfully issued permits for interbasin water transfers but Georgia and South Carolina are positioned to do so. Whether the permitting process will deter court action may rest on the ability of affected parties to negotiate an equitable agreement.     

我国水事纠纷解决机制探析

水事纠纷解决机制是一系列水事纠纷解决方式所组成的整体,该机制是民事主体或行政区域水资源权利受到侵害,以及遭受水污染侵权损害的重要救济途径。虽然我国相关法律对水事纠纷的解决方式已作出规定,但是这些法律规定较为分散、不系统,还没有形成一个有机的整体,造成运用该机制解决水事纠纷的效果较差。为了保障水事纠纷及时、有效地得以解决,完善我国的水事纠纷解决机制已迫在眉睫。     

湿地水权实践中的成员权表达——基于D村W大塘的案例分析

湿地是我国生态环境系统中的重要组成部分。但长期以来,我国湿地被各方掠夺性开发,湿地生态环境面临的形势严峻。造成这一局面的主要原因是湿地产权界定不清带来的外部不经济。试图通过对发生在一个湿地资源型村庄的案例的分析,来呈现因产权界定不清以致湿地生态环境被破坏的过程:集体化结束后,村社成员试图重新界定湿地水面产权。集体成员权作为一种身份和资格,成为界定湿地水权时最为关键的权利。村社的成员权实践受到受到国家法律政策逻辑和乡土逻辑的双重影响。当双重逻辑在成员权实践中共同发挥作用时,村社成员的权益表达就比较和谐;而当双重逻辑逐渐失能时,村社成员的权益表达就会逐渐不和谐;若这双重逻辑完全消解,村社成员就可能放弃自己的权益表达。后果就是湿地被无序开发,当地的生态环境遭到严重破坏。要改变这一情况,亟需国家政治力量和地方社区力量的集体参与——国家要完善湿地环境保护方面的法律政策,使社会在调处湿地水权纠纷时有法可依;同时基层政府应因地制宜地制定湿地环境保护政策,并应以更加积极的姿态介入到村社湿地水权纠纷调处中;村社成员也应主动对接国家政治力量,“迎法下乡”,使依法治村在村社湿地水权纠纷调处中成为可能。     

Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues

/ It has been suggested that the general public should be moreinvolved in environmental policy and decision making. It is important forthem to realize that they will have to live with the consequences ofenvironmental policies and decisions. Consequently, policy makers shouldconsider the concerns and opinions of the general public before makingdecisions on environmental issues. This raises questions such as: How can weintegrate the perceptions and reactions of the general population inenvironmental decisions? What kind of public participation should weconsider? In the present study, using a new regional ecosystem model, weattempted to integrate these aspects in its decision making model byincluding the formation of an advisory committee to resolve problems relatedto waste management. The advisory committee requested the activeparticipation of representatives from all levels of the community: economic,municipal, and governmental intervenors; environmental groups; and citizens.Their mandates were to examine different management strategies available inthe region, considering all the interdisciplinary aspects of each strategy,elaborate recommendations concerning the management strategies that are mostsuitable for all, and collaborate in communication of the information to thegeneral population. The results showed that at least in small municipalitiessuch an advisory committee can be a powerful tool in environmental decisionmaking. Conditions required for a successful consultation process, such aseveryday lay language and the presence of a facilitator other than ascientific expert, are discussed.KEY WORDS: Public consultation; Environmental policies;Interdisciplinary aspects; Municipal sewage sludge management; Generalpopulation; Decision-making process     

环境调解“二一分流”模式的探究

面对纷繁复杂的环境纠纷,学者们普遍倾向行政调解,但实践中行政调解存在概念不清、程序不完备、政府信誉危机等无法逾越的障碍。为了应对复杂的环境纠纷,应当因应地选择解决方式,确立“二一分流”的方法并创设“双调解”模式,将不同类型的问题划入不同处理模式,综合运用三大调解方式,从而真正实现“大调解”从司法到全社会的全面贯通,提高环境纠纷处理效率。     

流域环境司法机制的发展：从环境法庭到环境法院

为促进流域的司法保护,我国一些地方法院成立了专门的流域环境法庭。但从流域环境法庭和流域环境巡回法庭的实践情况来看,还不能满足流域整体性保护的需要,也不能适应流域法的发展需求。我国流域司法机制建设,宜从流域环境法庭逐渐转到流域环境法院。流域环境法院的建立在我国环境司法专门化进程中具有必要性和可行性。按照流域法的保护理念和环境司法专门化的要求,流域环境法院的建设首先要合理设置审判机构,其次要科学设计程序制度,为流域生态环境保护提供强有力的司法保障。     

Understanding Dispute Resolution Processes for American and Australian Public Wildlands: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Managers

/ The last 20 years have seen the successful application of environmental dispute resolution processes, where people voluntarily negotiate toward mutually acceptable solutions, to many environmental disputes. The effects of contextual influences, such as the number of parties and presence of deadlines, on outcomes are known and frequently described. Less well documented and understood are the interaction processes themselves. This paper draws on two case studies to develop a conceptual framework describing these processes. Disputes associated with management planning for the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in the United States and Fitzgerald River National Park in Australia provided the cases. The conceptual framework derived had eight sequential stages: (1) joint definition of problems, (2) uncertainty about what to do, (3) agreement on group procedures, (4) realization of interdependence, (5) enthusiasm about collective possibilities, (6) commitment to working together, (7) consolidation of the group, and (8) implementation of a resolution. The framework provides new insights for managers of public wildlands, especially the need for varying but ongoing managerial involvement in dispute resolution processes. High levels of involvement and influence are essential at the beginning in problem definition and group procedure design and at the end in implementing resolutions. Conversely, agency members must be willing to exert less influence, while still being involved and committed to collective purposes, during the middle stages. Also apparent from the conceptual framework is the importance of developing shared understandings and of allowing sufficient time for understanding to develop, if successful resolution is to be achieved. KEY WORDS: Environmental dispute resolution; Conceptual framework; Public wildlands; Shared understandings; Australia     

Environmental accounting—making it work for your company

There is no simple recipe for success in implementing environmental accounting. Day-to-day needs and strategic objectives will determine how an organization can benefit from environmental accounting. Our previous article listed many potential applications of environmental accounting and discussed common environmental accounting objectives.¹ This article is geared toward organizations that want to start implementing environmental accounting and create a foundation of success on which to build. In this context, the questions are (1) What are some logical starting points? and (2) Where do companies go from there? This article first describes some paradigms that may guide companies as they think about how to implement environmental accounting, then it presents a series of critical activities that are needed to make environmental accounting an integral part of ongoing business management functions.     

Animal Rearing as a Contract?

Can animals, and especially cattle, be the subject ofmoral concern? Should we care about their well-being?Two competing ethical theories have addressed suchissues so far. A utilitarian theory which, inBentham's wake, extends moral consideration to everysentient being, and a theory of the rights orinterests of animals which follows Feinberg'sconceptions. This includes various positions rangingfrom the most radical (about animal liberation) tomore moderate ones (concerned with the well-being ofanimals). Notwithstanding their diversity, theseconceptions share some common flaws. First, as anextension of primarily anthropocentric theories (aboututility or rights) they still participate in the flawsof the original setting. Second, extending them tonon-human beings raises the problem of the borderwhich is to be drawn between what can be included inthe purview of moral consideration and what is leftoutside. Third, such theories are not able to distinguishbetween an ethics of wildlife and an ethics ofdomestic life, which too often leads to preposterousstatements. We would like to argue (i) that we should distinguishbetween environmental ethics (concerned withpopulations, species, biotic communities) and animalethics (where animals are taken into consideration individually);(ii) that individualist animal ethics are not relevantfor animal rearing; (iii) that animal rearing is a hierarchicalrelationship which rules are to be found in the fiction of a domesticcontract. Hence, we would like to construct a new conception ofthe ethics of the relation between men and the cattlethey breed based on the idea of a domestic contract.Our main assumption is Mary Midgleys's anthropologicalassumption, according to which human communities,since the Neolithic age, have always included variousanimals, so that relations of sociability have alwaysexisted between human beings and animals within thedomestic community (a mixed community). In order tospecify the hierarchical and non-egalitarian, butinclusive reciprocal obligations and relations insidesuch a community, we will elaborate on the notion ofa ``domestic contract'', an implicitly assumedidea traced back to Lucretius and whichwe will follow up to the physiocrats and Adam Smith.We will show that such an idea relies upon theassumption of communication between cattle farmer andanimals, of shared experience and exchanges betweenthe two parties. We will then show how modern factory,or battery animal farming, can be seen as unilaterallybreaking this domestic contract, forsaking ourduties towards domestic animals.     

Environmental management in an international consumer goods company

Many management processes and tools can provide companies with information to support their environmental decision making. Risk assessment, environmental auditing, life cycle assessment and environmental reporting are but a few examples. Each of these has typically evolved independently as the need for it has arisen. Today, however, this abundance of tools can lead to confusion: What is the exact objective of each tool? How do they differ? Are some ‘better’ than others? Should they be used in parallel, sequentially or in place of each other? More importantly, how do they fit together into a coherent environmental management framework that will ensure sound environmental and economic decision making in a company? This paper seeks to answer these questions. It describes the overall environmental framework that has been developed internally within Procter & Gamble and which allows the company to make coherent economically and environmentally sound decisions, in both the short- and long-term.     

COMPUTER ASSISTED NEGOTIATION OF MULTIOBJECTIVE WATER RESOURCES CONFLICTS1

ABSTRACT: Since the early 1970s, a large volume of literature has accumulated related to multiobjective water resources management problems. A relatively small portion of this specifically addresses the negotiation process required when there are multiple decision makers with conflicting objectives. This paper focuses on that process and describes a computer program designed to assist such negotiation processes. This interactive computer assisted negotiation support system is called ICANS. ICANS is designed for dynamic, multi-issue, multi-party negotiation problems. Based on information provided in confidence by each party via an interactive graphical interface, the program can help determine if there exist any possible alternatives that are equivalent or even preferred to each party's decision in the absence of a negotiated agreement. If such alternatives exist, through a series of iterations in which each party's input data, assumptions, and preferences may change, ICANS can assist the parties in their search for a mutually acceptable and preferred agreement. A simple example illustrates the data requirements and the use of ICANS in negotiation experiments.     

Joint submissions,output related payments and environmental co-operatives: Can the Dutch experience innovate UK agri-environment policy?

This paper describes three relatively recent innovations in the Dutch agri-environment programme which have helped nature management to be contiguous with natural features allowing the landscape to be managed whole rather than piecemeal—and thus generate higher quality and greater scope in environmental management. The first two, joint submissions by neighbouring farmers and payments related to the level of environmental output delivered, are scheme innovations. The third, Environmental Co-operatives (EC)—clubs of neighbouring farmers that inter alia co-ordinate and help manage the scheme innovations—is an institutional innovation. None has an equivalent in the UK. Evidence from interviews with farmer and non-farmer members, policy makers, academics and other interested parties show the role EC play in overcoming some of the postulated problems of the two scheme innovations. Not all the problems have been overcome, and cost-benefit analyses have not been conducted, nevertheless there is sufficient evidence to suggest that these innovations have benefited all actors involved: farmers, the government, the environment and the rural economy. Analysis of UK agri-environment policy using actor network theory (ANT) suggests the UK government will need to show similar levels of trust in and commitment to the farming community before these innovations could be introduced in the UK.